As we end the study of Judges, I hope we realize that we, too, live in darkness culturally. Our world is very similar to the world of that day; everyone does what is right in her own eyes rather than what’s right in God’s eyes. However, our biggest threat is failing to see the darkness within ourselves. The Canaanite within says we aren’t our brother’s keeper when it’s inconvenient or costly; the Canaanite within victimizes others; the Canaanite considers certain people as less valuable; the Canaanite within says “me first;” the Canaanite within minimizes sin and God’s holiness; the Canaanite within seeks revenge rather than restoration; and the Canaanite within believes that the end justifies the means.

We must seek out the Canaanite within ourselves or that spirit within us will send us in the wrong direction, just as the mole did in 24. Search out the Canaanite within. Confess and forsake any of those attitudes you find.  Rather than focus on the enemy outside, look for the problem within.

Judges has shown us that our God is gracious and forgiving. He will forgive you when you confess and forsake the Canaanite within you. Over and over we’ve seen God use weak, foolish, and sinful people. He’s the hero of the book, and he’s the hero of our lives when we follow him, turning from the darkness into the light.

This book ends with a note of desperation… It tells these stories and just ends… 25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did [what was right in his own eyes]. It’s so appealing there at the beginning… “I get to define God as I want him… he’s my lucky rabbit’s foot.” It ends with hell on earth. But that’s where this story takes a turn.

You see, the book of Judges does not exist by itself in the Bible. There is another book in the Bible written in parallel with the last chapters of Judges… the book is called Ruth. Ironically enough, Ruth is a woman who is not even an Israelite (and she was a widow… a foreign widow was about as low as you could get on the Israelite totem pole). Unlike the Jews, she trusts God in the face of impossible odds. Whereas Judges ends with despair (where there is no king and the land lives in darkness), the book of Ruth ends this way: Ruth 4:21, “…And Boaz (and Ruth)* fathered Obed, [22] Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.” And David would have a son, who had a son, who had a son… whose was Jesus.

These books, written in parallel, show you that where the strength of Israel fails, God would save through one considered weak (like Ruth), an outcast. This king Israel didn’t have… and clearly needed, would come not as one who was strong, like Samson, who would force the people to obey; but one who was weak, like Ruth… He would be poor, like Ruth, and wander as an outcast without a home, like Ruth, and would change our hearts so that we wanted to obey. And his death would be a horrible, gruesome thing; a distorted perversion of justice like we see here in the last chapters of Judges